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Jrepon L i b r a r y
97403
Andrew Young, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, visits Oregon —
Police change volunteer release
PORTLAND
OBSERVER
V olum e 8 No. 46 Thursday. N ovem ber 16.1978 10c per copy
Defense fund organizes
Defending himself from an unprovoked knife assault by two
white men, Al Williams, Advertising Manager for the Portland
Observer, killed one of the men. The assault occurred Friday
morning, November 10th at Winchell’s Donut House on Union
Avenue.
Williams has been charged with murder.
The Al Williams Legal Defense Fund has been established at
American State Bank. Contributions should be sent to the fund
at 2737 N.E. Union, Portland. Oreaon 97212 or to the Observer.
Co-Chairmen of the fund are Paul Knauls and James Loving.
Des Connall has been retained as defense counsel.
The Crime Prevention Unit o f the
Portland Police Bureau has agreed to
revise its volunteer “ Release” form
a fte r com plaints by the Greater
Northeast Police Precinct Council
and others.
The original form, which was used
by the Crime Prevention Unit when
recruiting volunteers from the Prince
Hall Masons, authorized the Police
Bureau to do a background check o f
i the volunteer and released the
Bureau from any liability.
The form said, in part: “ authorize
the Portland Police Bureau to check
my background and criminal record,
i f any, and do hereby fully and com
pletely release the Chief o f Police or
any police officer o f the Portland
Bureau o f Police, the City o f Port
land, Oregon, Multnomah County,
Oregon, the Department o f Public
Safety o f Multnomah County, and
the D istrict A tto rn e y ’ s O ffice o f
Multnomah County, or any officer
or deputy thereof, and more par
tic u la rly The P ortland Police
Bureau’ s Crime Prevention U n it,
their successors, a d m in istra to rs,
executors or assigns from any and all
liability o f every nature and dcscrip-
Herndon FBI file reveals surveillance
Ron H erndon, a w ell-know n
figure in the Black community, has
recently obtained conclusive evidence
that, over a period o f at least seven
years, that he was the target o f a
massive FBI surveillance campaign.
A few weeks back, as you w ill recall,
he was listed as one o f The Ten Most
Influential Blacks in Portland accord
ing to a Willamette Week article. He
received his FBI file after requesting
it under the Freedom o f Information
A ct. But, even then, despite the
name o f the act. some o f the in fo r
mation had been deleted. For exam
ple, the names o f all the agents and
the spies had been excised.
Herndon works w ith the Black
Educational Center, a self-help in
stitution that teaches children from
kindergarden through the sixth
grade. The emphasis o f the BEC
always has been on academic ex
cellence as well as teaching kids
about their culture which is either
grossly distorted o r altogether
ignored in the public school system.
The BEC teaches Black children
about their heritage so they can grow
up proud and stand tall, sustained by
the knowledge that th e ir people
possess thousands o f years o f rich
culture and history.
The Center also runs The Talking
D rum Bookstore which carries
mostly Black literature, both African
and American as well as posters,
pam phlets,
postcards,
maps,
newspapers, periodicals, etc. In both
pursuits, the driving forces behind
Herndon is a strong desire to bring to
Blacks in Oregon an awareness o f
Young at the Lewie and Clark
Law School. (Photos: D .C .)
their culture. He also believes that
Blacks have to rely more on them
selves i f they are to obtain any
m eaningful independence. Above
and beyond that, he is your ordinary
everyday man, striving to survive as
we all are.
Apparently, somebody in the FBI
did not th in k so. This somebody
thought Herndon was so dangerous
enough to warrant a thorough check
going ail the way back to when he
was born in 1945 until as recently as
1975. They checked everything,
lite ra lly everything including the
police files in his hometown o f Cof
feyville, Kansas. From this was ob
tained the fo llo w in g report: “ the
only inform ation contained in his file
was a $5 tr a ffic ticke t paid on
2/14/64.” The files o f the Kansas
City Division o f the FBI and those o f
Kansas Bureau o f Investigation con
tained no further information.
In all, the file on Herndon amount
ed to 47 pages. The entries from 1968
through 1975 seem to indicate that he
was followed virtually around the
clock. In that year, 1968, he was a
student at Reed College and, in
reference to this, the file reads: “ sub
ject, a student at Reed College, was
one o f those who were most force
fully promoting a boycott in protest
against certain Reed policies.”
The file then goes on to provide
details on his address, home phone
number, his wife, where she was em
ployed, his previous home address in
C o ffe y v ille , Kansas, his parents
(even the fact that they were d i
vorced!), his cars and their license
“ K B O O ” radio show “ As The
W orld Churns” which features live
interviews with inmates "th e issue is
the rights o f human beings to live
like people, not animals, regardless
(Please turn to Page 2 Column I)
tion whatsoever by reason o f my
authorization fo r background in
vestigation and record check and any
subsequent crim inal proceedings,
and I hereby release each o f the
aforesaid from any and all damages
actually a n d /o r theoretically suf
fered by me by reason o f said
background investigation and record
check.
“ And I further covenant with each
o f the aforesaid that I w ill never sue
on account o f said background in
vestigation and record check and
that these presents may be pleased as
a defense for any action or any other
proceeding which may be brought,
instituted or taken by me against the
aforesaid.”
L t. Tom P otter o f the Crim e
Prevention U nit told the Precinct
Council Tuesday evening that the
background check had been intended
only to include checking fo r a
criminal record and that this was to
protect residents who would receive
volunteers in to th e ir homes.
“ Citizens would know that the per
son coming to their home had been
screened by the police.” He also
maintained that it would aid the
volunteer by adding “ credibility” .
Anna Madden added that it would
seem to protect the Police Bureau
more than it would the people.
A fte r discussion w ith Robert
Phillips o f the Precinct Council, the
City-wide Advisory Committee and
others, the Bureau proposed changes
that w ill be reviewed again by
citizens. These include: restricting
the background check to crim inal
records; not releasing the records to
any other agencies; explaining that
the right to legal redress if the record
is w ro n g fu lly used is retained;
allowing volunteers to request that
their file be destroyed after leaving
the program; keeping the files in
locked cabinets; delete social security
numbers and other questionable
items from application.
Tom Vickers, Chairman o f the
Mason’ s crime prevention commit
tee, asked that the form s signed
earlier be destroyed. L t. P otter
agreed to meet with the group and
discuss their disposition.
The files w ill be kept away from
the volunteers w orking w ith the
Police Bureau sponsored crim e
prevention program. Another arm o f
the crime prevention program w ill be
sponsored by neighborhood groups.
NAACP receives nominations
The Portland Branch NAACP w ill
hold its membership meeting on
November 19th, 4:00 p.m. at Bethel
AME
C hurch,
according to
Reverend John Jackson, President.
The Branch w ill receive the report
o f the nom inating com m ittee,
naming nominees to the executive
board and offices. Nominations can
be made fro m the flo o r w ith
petitions signed by three members in
good standing.
A re p o rt on the findings and
recommendations o f the Community
Coalition for School Integration will
be given. The public is urged to at
tend.
County Commissioners press, meet at Butte
by Valentine Nemcek
"A c c o rd in g to the U nited
Nations, the United States is second
to Turkey in having the worst prisons
in the Western World. "
Edward Bunker
"One Can See B ru ta lity "
The Nation, November 29, ¡975
Inmates at Rocky Butte decided to
end the refusal o f meals as a tactic in
the effort to secure changes at the
ja il. Refusing meals, the inmates
were struggling against handicaps
not encountered on the "outside.”
The poor general health o f inmate
popula tion as evidenced by over
12,000 medications administered at
Rocky Butte in O ctober and the
overcrowding and filth y sanitation
co n d itio n s co n trib u te d to the
Prisoners Coalition decision to begin
accepting meals.
The peaceful efforts by the P.C.
along with outside support from a
group o f citizens meeting each
Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at 215 S.E. 9th,
to monitor and lend support to the
upgrading o f Rocky Butte is being
continued
The P.C. has form ally listed four
specific areas needing attention.
Number 1 on the list is “ contact
v is its .” As previously reported,
Rocky Butte only allows inmates */i
hour visits per week via phone and
thru a small glass viewing window.
This archaic method has been con
demned by the P C. as destructive to
fam ily relationships fo r the jailed,
the m ajority o f whom may spend
months in Rocky Butte prior to trial.
Multnomah County Commissioner
Donald Clark advised the press that
“ we can’t change this policy . . . we
don’t have the staff to supervise con
tact visits.”
The P.C., on the other hand, deny
this claim, stating they have been in
vited to supply to prison officials an
inmate proposal for contact visits.
Their piesentation will center around
use o f the cafeteria as a visiting area
supervised by the same staff now
used as visiting supervision at the
jail.
Number 2 on the list is a com
bination o f im proved sanitation,
greater privacy in toilet facilities and
more yard recreation. On a tour o f
the facilities on November 14th, it
was pointed out by the Multnomah
County Commissioners and other
prison o ffic ia ls that new shower
systems were under construction. No
o ffic ia l was able to answer P.C.
questions
p e rtaining
to
the
availability o f shower curtains for
these new showers. C arl Mason,
Director o f Corrections, stated he
would look into the matter o f cur
tains indicating he was aware no cur
tains w ould increase sanitation
problems from wet floors. The cur
tains would give inmates a modicum
o f privacy w hile showering. The
privacy o f the toilets themselves was
not addressed at this meeting and
inmates are continuing to be forced
to use the toilets in full view o f other
inmates, nurses, visitors, guards, etc.
A "fa c t sheet” handed out to the
press boldly states that “ if weather
permits, inmates are taken outside”
while the P.C. continues to report
that in one o f the warmest summer
and fall seasons, inmates were taken
outside “ less than a half dozen times
in a period o f four months.”
The third request is for better food
and non-meat protein sources for
vegetarians. The basic ja il diet con
sists o f meals high in carbohydrates
and starch at a cost o f approximately
66c per meal. Although the "fa c t
sheet” stated “ inmates are allowed
to have seconds at any given meal” it
was announced by prison officials
that this was an “ error” and that
prisoners were not allowed seconds.
In answer to a question concerning
alternate non-meat protein sources
such as cheese, Dr. David Lawrence
o f the Multnomah County Human
Services Departm ent stated this
“ couldn’t be done.”
The fourth P.C. request called for
better medical care. It was noted by a
P.C. member that the entire Rocky
Butte system is “ destructive to
health.” Yet all requests for chunges
come from the inmates and outside
citizens, not health officials. It is a
fact th a t poor health can be
promoted by “ poor sanitation, lack
o f outdoor exercise and fresh air,
poor diet, overcrowding, lack o f
sunshine (vitam ins)” all o f which
exist at Rocky Butte. Yet the M ult
nomah C ounty Hum an Services
Departm ent under D r. Lawrence
remain silent on these issues even
though the inmates are under their
care. According to Lt. Tom Slyter
sixty to seventy percent o f these men
are “ aw aiting tr ia l.” These same
men, il l treated m entally and
physically, w ill go to court after
several months at Rocky Butte and
the judicial system w ill reiterate their
status as “ innocent u n til proven
guilty.” As stated by a P.C. member
on the regular Thursday night
(Please turn to Page 2 Column 4)
A Northeast Portland reaidant. Orali “ Robbia" Robinson, was recently
honored for hér three decades of service to Providence Medical Center. William
G. Conley, hospital administrator, presented Robinson with a gold service pin
studded with two rubies and a diamond to commemorate her service. Robin
son is supervisor of linen services at the 483 bed hospital. While needy 200
Providence employees were recognized for perioda of service ranging from five
to thirty years, Robinson was one of only two employees marking their 30th
anniversary of work with Providence.
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